kirra-docs

Trunk Branch Connect

Lays a trunk line through open ground. Every hole in its swath is tied into the chain, and a branch is drawn from each hole out to the trunk. The firing order is the same as a Tie Connect Continuous run — the difference is that the trunk is kept as its own line on the plan.

Before you start

The trunk is made of the connector product you have selected:

Selected chip	Trunk laid
UNDEF (nothing selected) or HW	Harness wire — named `HARN_TRUNK_…`
DC	Detonating cord — named `CORD_TRUNK_…`
CC	Refused — a cord connector is spliced into a line, not laid as one

With a CC chip selected Kirra says “A cord connector is spliced into a line, not laid as one. Lay the trunk with a cord product, then place the connector on it.” Lay the cord first, then place the connector with Tie Connect.

Set Connect Distance (m) — the half-width of the swath. Default 2.0. See Connector Settings.

Lay a trunk

Select a connector product chip.
Click Trunk Branch Connect on the Connect toolbar. Connector display is switched on.
Click to place trunk vertices. Clicks do not snap to holes — the trunk follows the ground you click. A click right on a collar picks that hole — unless the hole is hidden or locked.
Holes within Connect Distance of each new segment are tied in as you go, in order along the trunk. A green swath follows the cursor so you can see what the next segment will take.
Finish with Enter, Escape, double-click or right-click. The status bar reads “Trunk … complete. Click to start another.”

The tool stays on for the next trunk. A vertex placed on open ground takes its height from the collars around it.

Keys while drawing

Key	Action
Enter / Escape	Finish the current trunk
Backspace / Delete	Remove the last segment. Holes it tied go back to self-connected
Ctrl+Z	Ignored while a trunk is part-drawn — use Backspace

Once the trunk is finished, Ctrl+Z undoes the whole trunk in one step.

Joining trunks

First click lands on	Result
The free end of an existing trunk of the same kind	That trunk is continued: “Continuing … — click to extend.” A cord trunk can be continued from either end
Part-way along a cord trunk, with a cord product	A node is added there and the new run is knotted to it — signal passes both ways through a knot
Part-way along a harness trunk	The new run branches from that trunk

A later click on another cord trunk knots the run to that one too, so cord runs build into a network.

What you get

A trunk line, named in sequence per blast — for example HARN_TRUNK_001_….
Each captured hole tied to the hole before it, with the current Delay Amount, colour and product.
A branch from each hole to its point on the trunk, coloured by the hole’s downhole detonator product (or the hole colour if the hole is not charged).
Moving the trunk later moves the branches with it.

A tie that would loop the chain back on itself is refused: “… tie(s) would have looped the chain back on itself — skipped.”

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Cause	Fix
The trunk refuses to start	A CC chip is selected	Pick a DC or HW chip, or UNDEF
The trunk grabbed a hole you did not aim at	The click landed on a collar	Click a little further from the hole
The trunk has no firing times	Nothing upstream is an initiation point	Use Self Connect Add IP on the first hole, or on a cord run
Holes in the next row were tied	Connect Distance is wider than the gap between rows	Lower it, or walk the trunk down the middle of the gap

Other ways to use it

Method	Result
Right-click a trunk	Add Initiation, Remove Initiation, Add Node, Remove Node, Close Loop / Open Loop (cord only), Properties and more
Tie Connect on a trunk run	Re-attach a hole to the trunk, or place a cord connector inline
Connectors Remove on a branch	Takes that hole off the trunk
Data Explorer → right-click a trunk → Convert to Hole Ties	Turns the trunk into ordinary hole-to-hole ties